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Thursday, 13 October 2011

Getting My Groove Back

Each week there is a blog hop at Kate on Thin Ice.This is an inspiring blog hop for mums who want to either rediscover some of their old groove, or even maybe find a new one.You can read more about it here:

So, what have I done to get my groove back this week?

1. Dressing down (a few sizes!)

This week I set myself the challenge of buying a new swimsuit.Every Monday I take Little Pip for a swimming lesson. For the past year, I have been wearing a maternity swimsuit. There’s no good reason for this, I have just been lazy and for the sake of half an hour a week, I forgave myself this style sin, due to the fact I was immersed in water, and people really couldn’t see much of me!This week I decided, enough was enough. It’s nearly two and a half years since I was pregnant.Time to give up the baggy old bather, garner a little self respect, and suit up into something more respectable, especially as I do actually think *I have a figure to be reasonably proud of. * (Regular readers: that’s the PR piece from last weeks challenge!) So, I set off this week to find a swimsuit. It wasn’t as easy as I thought, but a prolonged session struggling with Lycra in a changing room proved fruitful, and next Monday I think my self-esteem will definitely receive a boost as I enter the pool in my new streamlined cossie.

2. Being neighbourly.

We moved to ‘Faulty Towers’ 10 months ago now, and whilst we have met a few of the neighbours, mostly they keep themselves to themselves. There is one other family on our street with young children.They have a boy the same age as Pip.I have seen the mother on numerous occasions on the road, over the 10 months we’ve lived here, and we've both uttered countless times, ‘Oh, you must come over for a cup of tea.’ But I felt it had got to the point that it was just small talk, after such a long time.So, this week, I saw said mum, and I suddenly found myself, saying, ‘You must come over, THIS week.’ and seeking to determine a firm date. So, last Thursday she came for tea.

Since we moved to Faulty Towers (a complete, dilapidated old dump), I have felt reluctant to have visitors.It’s cold, it’s dark, the heating doesn’t work, the wallpaper is hideous.Right now, it’s not a home for entertaining, and obviously friends who know me well, know I wouldn’t have papered a whole room in bright red wallpaper with vomit coloured flowers, but new visitor’s don’t – so it makes me feel self conscious.

The night before the ‘tea date’ I wished I hadn’t invited her. (Actually, I blamed my participation in this blog hop as the reason why I had invited her!).I started to zoom round tidying up, and cleaning. In the end, my husband firmly told me I should stop,uttering the rather stinging phrase…‘You can’t polish a turd’. A damning indictment of our abode, but slightly true. And he was right, the peeling wallpaper and moth-eaten carpets weren’t going to go away by my tidying incessantly.

As is usually the case with these things, I shouldn’t have worried.The other mother turned out to be very friendly. She insisted politely that her house was in a much worse state than mine (I think she was being nice), and she gave me some helpful tips on trying to hurdle some of the issues I am having with the council planning permission team.I was really pleased I had made the effort to get to know her better.It is nice to know your neighbours, to have someone to say a cheery hello to, to moan about the weather with, to have someone to share a cup of tea with; someone who (almost) shares the same little piece of the world as you.

3. A day out with a friend.

On Wednesday I went shopping with a friend.She was on a mission to complete her ‘back to work’ wardrobe. It was great fun, watching her try lots and lots of smart, gorgeous clothes on, and having a good catch up over coffee.She is very funny and cheerful, and that’s contagious. I felt exhausted after a week of very little sleep, but she really buoyed me up. So much so, I even treated myself to some lovely new brown knee high boots. I think they will go very well with my autumn wardrobe of muted colours.

4. A haircut

Inspired by Rambling Pages last post, I booked a trip to the hairdressers.The last time I had my haircut was July, so I figured it was time to take the barnet into the hairdressers for a tidy up and reshape.It’s amazing what a good blow dry can do, my hair feels silky smooth. I don’t know why I didn’t go earlier, because it looks SO much better.

You can find the linky for the blog hop at the top of this page . There are some greatand inspiring stories, and some very supportive, friendly bloggers taking part. Do go and take a look, and if you’re looking for weight loss inspiration, pop over and read about how Glasgow Mummy did it!

6 comments:

Thanks so much for joining in again.So you took the time out for a new swimsuit so this week's knicker challenge should be a breeze for you.Well done on inviting the neighbour in. I managed to speak to someone this week in the village, in fact a few people which is a major move forward for me.Post a pic of you and the haircut and I will let you get away with not posting a pic of you in your new knickers lol.Well done on all fronts. Great to see you back

Great post. Well done you for having your neighbour over. I'm lucky to have lovely neighbours on both sides (I'm in a mid-terrace) but they have older kids. A lot of my mum friends I met at pregnancy yoga live in the nearby areas though and we had one mum round this afternoon for a playdate.I went to get a new swimsuit for going to baby swimming classes and found it a daunting task. Feeling much better about myself now though (my personal trainer took photos of me this week in my leggings and crop top for her website - yikes!)You've had a very productive week - shopping, socialising & haircut! Hope you have a good week this week too.